Alexa James’ passion for mental health began early in her career as a social worker when she noticed a disconnect in our country’s mental health system. “It’s not like any other template for other health conditions," James explains. "We don’t see gaps like we see in mental health in oncology or lung disease or asthma." Her frustration and the lack of help for those in need led James to NAMI, which specializes in advocacy and education of mental health issues. “We provide hope when hope is at its lowest point,” James says. In Chicago, NAMI has helped to increase training for crisis intervention team officers and 911 call takers so that people living with mental health conditions are met with compassion and understanding, rather than force, if they should need the police.

The nonprofit helps people navigate the mental health system through its free services, including its help line, which receives thousands of calls every year from people looking for support and advice. And while there are often negative stigmas and stereotypes that surround people who live with mental illness, James commends their strength in working toward recovery despite the barriers placed in their way. “People who are impacted and living with mental health conditions are some of the most eloquent, compassionate and driven people to work toward treatment," she says. "They have so much tenacity and I learn so much from the people’s experience who engage with this recovery system and mental health system."

The idea for GirlForward came to Blair Brettschneider while volunteering at a refugee resettlement agency during her time with AmeriCorps. It was her connection with a young woman named Domi, whose family had been resettled in Chicago several years prior, that motivated Brettschneider to start the nonprofit. “Learning about Domi’s experiences as an 18-year-old young woman who was navigating her new city and all her goals, dreams and responsibilities made me want to do more for girls in the same position, especially because there were no resources or supports specifically designed for refugee girls,” Brettschneider explains.

The organization provides support to girls through its three programs: the Mentoring Program, Camp GirlForward and the Safe Spaces Program. Paired with a woman mentor from the local community, girls are encouraged to explore “4W” activities, which include wellness, wisdom, wallet and world as they work toward completing high school. Brettschneider says this year’s graduation ceremony and Mentoring Program celebration were particularly special because it was the first year the organization’s had girls and mentors who had been together from freshman year to graduation.

With 25 years of work experience in the LGBTQ movement, Kim Fountain came to the Center on Halsted for its mission and reputation. The multiservice organization welcomes up to 1,400 people every day, and it provides programs and services for the entire community, including a GED program, cooking classes, rapid HIV testing and more. Fountain says it’s these services that empower LGBTQ people who experience troubling disparities such as family rejection and being singled out in school.“We have programs here like our GED program where we see people who are taking those moments of their life back," Fountain explains. "Where they’re saying ‘You know, I’m going to reject everything that I’ve been told about how awful I am or how problematic I am and I’m gonna get my feet on the ground."

Recently, the Center has been moving to focus a little bit more on women in their community by doing more LBTQ focused work. Fountain says the shift comes from several reasons: “We looked at our programs and what we’re offering and who was coming and we noticed there seemed to be fewer women here than men and we thought ‘Let’s fix that,” because we have to serve everyone in our community,” Fountain says. Programming has included events such as “What the L,” where different women producers from across the city spoke about the programs they offer specifically for women and a lip sync battle hosted by the Center’s Women for Women community.

Kristen Pettit Grube became involved with Impact Grants Chicago after learning about the concept of the impact model, which is for every 100 women who join the organization at $1,000, a $100,000 grant is awarded to a nonprofit. With experience working in fundraising, Grube was intrigued by the act of awarding and making grants rather than asking for money. “That concept definitely appealed to me and the more I learned about it I thought, ‘Wow, this is a really unique concept where women are pooling their money and learning about organizations in the city and making really intentional and thoughtful grants to support those organizations,’” Grube explains.

After having completed its first grant cycle this past May, Impact Grants Chicago has awarded $400,000 in impact grants. The grant review process is a unique opportunity for members to learn more about different nonprofit organizations in Chicago while also getting to know the women within their own organization better. “The collective power of women has never been more evident in this day and age, and I think being with, working with, learning from and getting to know the women who are involved in Impact has been an incredibly rewarding experience,” Grube says. It’s an experience that continues to grow and, according to Grube, has become somewhat generational as members introduce their daughters and mothers to the organization.

Harriet Levy has been with the Center for Enriched Living (CEL) for the past 30 years, but her passion for working with people with disabilities began in college when she was studying to be an elementary and special education teacher. “I just had a love for working with people with disabilities and for the mindset that they should be fully included and part of the community,” Levy says. “And that has always stuck with me and has always been my belief since 40 years ago when I finished school.” At CEL, Levy and her team work to instill an inclusive community for people with developmental disabilities to achieve personal success through three categories: social enrichment, adapting to post-high school life and finding employment.

Levy believes that social isolation is one of the top barriers preventing people with developmental disabilities from living their most full lives, which is why social enrichment is vital to CEL’s mission and programming. “We bring people together by interest and capabilities to really forge friendships and to have a full life outside of our building and our program,” Levy says. CEL promotes social interaction with fun activities for every day of the week, such as Monday night bowling, Tuesday art classes and weekend community events. CEL is also looking to small and large businesses in its effort to decrease the 85 percent unemployment rate adults with developmental disabilities face. With about 25 adults in its employment pipeline, Levy says CEL’s hope is to introduce them to paid work opportunities in the community that align with their work interests.

After one of her closest friends from college volunteered at a young girls rock camp in New York City and raved about the amazing experience, Melissa Oglesby helped her to create their own Chicago camp modeled in the same vision. Now, more than 10 years later, Girls Rock!Chicago (GR!C) is in its 12th year and has impacted countless girls, transgender youth and gender non-conforming youth. The program, which holds two 7-day sessions each summer and semester-long sessions throughout the school year, encourages leadership, self-esteem and creativity through music. The kids come together, form a band, learn how to play instruments, write their own song and then perform it at the end of the session during a final showcase.

While the kids benefit from the musical experience, Oglesby says she’s learning just as much from them. “You just learn lessons from them all the time," she explains. "Their resilience, their open-mindedness, just their way of thinking about the world..." GR!C has grown from just 16 kids during its first summer camp session to about 75 kids per session today. But when Oglesby thinks back to that initial session there’s one girl in particular who continually inspires her, whether it be her dedication to GR!C over the years as a camper and volunteer or her relentless positivity and support of others. “When I think about her I’m like ‘yeah, we’re gonna be okay. The world’s gonna be okay,’” She explains. “Because of kids like that who really just have a different level of awareness about the world and are really working hard to make it a better place."

Before starting work as the Executive Director at Sarah’s Circle more than 10 years ago, Kathy Ragnar was working in finance. The nonprofit reached out to her with the open position, which Ragnar couldn’t refuse. “I was just very enthralled with what Sarah’s Circle does," Ragnar says. "Learning about the plights of women and the severity of women’s homelessness and I think it’s the mission that’s very inspiring." That mission – to be a refuge for women who are homeless and to empower them through emotional and physical rebuilding – has been at the nonprofit’s core for the past 40 years. Sarah’s Circle provides a full continuum of services including a daytime support center, interim housing and a permanent housing program.

Each night in Chicago there are more than 2,000 women who are homeless, Ragnar says. “They’re riding the buses, the train, they’re sleeping under viaducts as shelter,” she explains. “This is a population that is highly vulnerable in terms of sexual assault and ongoing PTSD.” Last year, Sarah’s Circle housed nearly 120 women, and in 2013 the nonprofit opened Judy Krueger Apartments, where it moved 10 women who had dealt with chronic homelessness into their own full-furnished apartments. This project motivated Sarah’s Circle to develop more housing, and the organization is currently working on renovating a new facility that will feature 38 more apartments as well as space for its 50-bed interim housing program.

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Comments (4)

cast a wider net?

these women each seem amazing and deserving. however, i believe that, had you looked, you would have found some equally-amazing women of color worthy of your list as well.

e202 days ago

Disgusted!

I find this utterly confusing and disgusting there was not one Woman of Color honored! Do Better!

Tennille203 days ago

No women of color!

Agreed. How is this possible in city like Chicago?!? No women of color working leading supporting non profit organizations. Do your job and do it better!

Vivian H 203 days ago

Shine the light on WOC

There are so many phenomenal women of color in non-profit leadership...leading the struggle for girl's empowerment, fighting rape culture, for refugee rights, against mass incarceration, providing expression for youth. Check out the pages of South Side Weekly for some of these stars. Sun-Times, let's do better.